Purdue freshman F Jay Simpson to miss rest of season

Purdue freshman forward Jay Simpson will miss the remainder of the 2012-13 season due to a lingering foot injury, the school announced Tuesday. He will be eligible to seek a medical hardship waiver.

“Jay has made every effort to rehab his foot in order to continue to contribute on the court this season, but it hasn’t come along as quickly as we would have liked,” Purdue head coach Matt Painter said in a statement. “The most important thing for Jay right now is to get completely healthy so this injury doesn’t remain a problem down the road.”

The Champaign, Ill., native played in each of Purdue’s first 10 games, averaging 2.6 points and 2.3 rebounds in 7.6 minutes per contest. Purdue is off to a 4-6 start and plays host to Ball State tonight.

Painter recently said he may opt to play a smaller lineup, perhaps softening the loss of Simpson who was still trying to get into shape. Fellow big man Donnie Hale has been battling a thigh injury, while Travis Carroll and Sandi Marcius have struggled for consistency playing up front.

BTN.com senior writer Tom Dienhart is a veteran sports journalist who covers Big Ten football and men’s basketball for BTN.com and BTN TV. Find him on Twitter and Facebook, read all of his work at btn.com/tomdienhart, and subscribe to his posts via RSS. Also, send questions to his weekly mailbag using the form below and read all of his previous answers in his reader mailbag section.

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